Fatherhood gives Peter Quillin stronger motivation to succeed

It appears that the outlook just continues to improve for Peter Quillin, the WBO middleweight titleholder who became a father on Saturday afternoon.

“It was raining and gloomy when my son decided to come into the world,” Quillin said during a Sunday interview with RingTV.com. “But when he was born, my wife said ‘The sun is coming out.’ This just means so much.”

Quillin’s wife, Allison Beth Quillin, gave birth to Joaquin Enriquez Quillin on Saturday at 4:21 p.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Joaquin, who shares his father’s middle name, weighed eight pounds, two ounces.

Joachin’s birth also means a great deal considering that Allison had a miscarriage in October 2013 while Quillin was training for his 10th-round stoppage of Gabriel Rosado that month.

“This adds a lot more importance to everything that I’m doing,” said Quillin, who turned 31 in June. “Watching my wife hold my baby, that was real love, right there. A lot of things can go away, but that’s a memory that is something that can never go away, right there.”

Joaquin’s arrival comes less than a week after Quillin learned that he had landed his biggest pay day and a fight before fans familiar to him against Matt Korobov tentatively targeted for Nov. 8 either in Washington, D.C., or New York City, thanks to a $1,904,840 purse bid won by Roc Nation Sports on Aug. 18.

The winning bid for Roc Nation Sports, the company founded by rapper Jay-Z, was made by newly-hired former Golden Boy Promotions COO David Itskowitch.

During an interview with RingTV.com, Itskowitch discussed the potential date conflict with an HBO-televised light heavyweight unification bout between IBF/WBA titleholder Bernard Hopkins and WBO counterpart Sergey Kovalev that has been announced for Nov. 8 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

Prior to the confirmation of Hopkins-Kovalev, Itskowitch said he “would not say” that the Nov. 8 date for Quillin-Korobov is “100 percent.”

Given that Michael Yormark, president and chief of branding and strategy for Roc Nation, is the twin brother of Brett Yormark, the CEO of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Itskowitch acknowledged that Quillin-Korobov makes sense for that venue, although he did not commit.

Quillin lives in Brooklyn and has fought twice at Barclays.

Quillin first bout at Barclays Center was in October 2012 when he scored six knockdowns during a unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam to earn the WBO belt.

Quillin returned to Barclays for his first defense, scoring four knockdowns during a seventh-round stoppage of Fernando Guerrero in April 2013.

In his last fight in April at The D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C., Quillin dominated Lukas Konecny, winning a unanimous decision by the scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108.

On his facebook page on Sunday, Quillin posted a photo of Joachin’s left hand clutching his father’s right forefinger.

“Since the baby’s come into this world, the love that I have for him will make me stronger than I’ve ever been for the next few years. This is my kid. This is what I created. Now that he’s here, I feel even more powerful fighting for the love of something else. I feel that I’m going to be the best that I can be,” said Quillin.

“That’s whether it’s in fighting or anything else. From now on, when people see me fight, they’re going to see that I’m fighting with a different type of rage. Now, I’ve got to provide for my kid and to be the best that I can be. I’m fighting with a different type of love in my heart.”